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Entries from August 2018

Friday, August 24, 2018

Today we want to encourage all our food loving readers to click over to Food Waste Feast, the website that helps you, "Cook more creatively, and stop throwing away perfectly good food."

This site comes from Mei and Irene from the Mei Mei food truck, restaurant, and catering company. We have deep admiration for all the wise, generous, and sustainable decisions this family has made as they've found a place for themselves in the competitive food world.

Recipes by Ingredient!

The Food Waste Feast team is building valuable resources for those of us who no longer feel that wasting food is acceptable. You can find recipes by ingredient for what you have on hand. For example, the photo above is a recipe they call, "Pasta with Wrinkled Cherry Tomatoes."

They say,

"Because sometimes you get super excited about tomato season, and you purchase three large local containers of cherry tomatoes, and then some of them inevitably linger a bit longer than you wanted them to and get all wrinkly and forlorn on the countertop....anyone else ever find themselves in that position? Just me?"

We say,

Irene and Mei you are not alone. We've done that too. But, from now on when that happens, we'll click over to the recipes by ingredient section of Food Waste Feast and find inspiration for a dish to use them.

This is a deep treasure trove of useful information. We suggest you make an initial visit and click around to find the areas you need right now. Then bookmark Food Waste Feast on your phone and make that your reading for times when you have to sit around waiting. Penny has been doing that for the past few weeks and has picked up useful information and been inspired to make new dishes by reviewing the recipes.

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

People complain about the high price of food in restaurants, especially those places that source prized, fresh, local products for their menus. Ed and I hear complaints about the price of produce at farmers markets compared to supermarket sale prices or places that sell overstock and remainder clearance fruit and vegetables. But, in reality, the most expensive food most of us buy is the food we throw away.

Tip: A quick stir-fry, like this cashew chicken, can prevent wasted food by using up the bits and pieces in you refrigerator.

Wasted Food vs Food Waste

A lot is being written these days about food waste. We need to rethink that term. Food waste, to us, is the potato peels, apple cores, trimmed fat, and onion skins left when we finish preparing a meal. Many of those item can be turned into compost and some of what you are tossing can become a new menu item with the right recipe. We'll have more resources for doing this in upcoming posts.

Wasted food, on the other hand, is the avocado that became overripe and was tossed because I bought too many. It’s the leftover chicken that sat long enough in the refrigerator for us to question its food safety. It’s the moldy orange or rotten peach in the fruit bowl. We’ve taken aim at this wasted food in our personal campaign to get the most value out of our food dollars.

Tip: We hard boil any older eggs whenever we buy a new carton. Those ready-to-go eggs help us turn a bit of leftover potato salad into a well-balanced lunch.

Vacation Lessons

If you are at all like us, you shop with greater care in the weeks before a trip because you have a set deadline to use up all the fresh food you buy.

Tip: Some toasted bread cubes, a ready-to-use avocado, and a drizzle of good olive oil can turn take-out gazpacho into a favorite meal.

Before and during a recent visit to Provincetown, Ed and I restricted our shopping list to those things we could use up in a few days. We bought food one or two meals at a time. When we extended our stay in P-town, we continued to follow that pattern. The result was that we had very little wasted food as we packed to return to Boston.

Since we’ve been home, I’ve followed that same rule. Each day I think about what I have on hand and only add staples that will soon run out and items I need for the next few meals to my shopping list. Try it and see how much less food you waste.

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Thinking ahead, doing a bit of extra planning, and a bit of targeted training can make traveling with your dog a lot easier. For us, taking our dog is a given, not an option. We have more fun and meet more people and other dogs when she’s with us. Our Poppy is a family member and we go on family vacations.

Poppy is always ready to travel to any beach, any time. She loves walking on the sand.

Reservations

This means we have to reserve early to be sure we can find accommodations in our favorite dog-friendly places. Poppy does fine traveling in her travel crate, but she doesn’t like staying alone in unfamiliar locations.

We also alert our vacation area pet sitters and see when they can fit us into their schedules so we can enjoy a few date nights without the pup. We don’t want to be the ones who spoil things for other families with dogs by leaving a barking dog in our room. If you’re going to a new area, ask your hotelier to recommend a pet sitter, should you need one.

Because we rent cars to travel, we have a travel crate to ensure the vehicle is returned in good condition. Poppy is great on car rides. Our last dog, Maggie Mae, suffered from motion sickness, so we’re pros at protecting car seats with our own waterproof puppy mats and disposable puppy pads.

Travel Training

There are a few behaviors you might want to perfect before your trip. The first is “down and stay.” This can be very helpful when putting your dog into or getting out of the car. You don’t want to have a dog bolting away when a car door is opened at a highway rest stop.

Next is renewing your effort to have your dog walk closely by your side. This will be helpful on crowded sidewalks, in shops where dogs are allowed, and when you're slightly distracted.

Finally, see if you can train your dog to relax on a towel or mat any place you happen to be. This will help when you want to take a break, if you want her to settle down under a table on a dog-friendly patio, or by your chair on a beach.

We were talking about travel plans with one of our favorite bartenders, Gina Richard Sargeant, at Select Oyster Bar in Boston. She travels with a big dog so we asked her if she had any tips to pass on to our readers. She did!

To reduce the shedding problem at a vacation rental, she gives her dog a very good brushing before she leaves home. On her packing list are old towels and sheets to cover the furniture and keep the dog hair off it. Favorite marrow bones to fill with goodies and freeze for times when he is left alone make him happy. A long dog lead gives him a bit of freedom while keeping him safe and away from neighbors who might not be dog lovers. (After she suggested this, we bought this long leash for Poppy.)

Finally, she makes sure she has applied fresh flea and tick medication when heading for places that have a serious problem with those insects. That reminds us that you should check before you leave to be sure the area you're visiting is not one that requires additional vaccinations for your dog.

We would add, make sure your dog’s ID tags are up-to-date. And, if you’ve been putting off adding a microchip to help should you ever be separated, now is the time to do it.

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Our shopping lists always seem to include some sort of allium, be it onions, scallions, garlic, shallots, chives, or leeks. Wikipedia explains that, “... Allium is the Latin word for garlic, and the type species for the genus is Allium sativum which means cultivated garlic." Around our house, we use a lot of this species!

Yellow, Brown, Red, Spanish, or Sweet Onions

You may notice that some recipes specify which of the major types of onions to use. What we typically call an onion is known as a “storage onion” by those in the trade. These break down into: white, yellow, red, Spanish, and sweet.

Brown or yellow onions are the most popular for everyday cooking. Red onions are most often used raw or pickled in dishes and these caramelize beautifully when grilled. White onions are the standard for Mexican recipes. Sweet onions include Vidalia, Walla Walla, and Bermuda and seem to be rising in popularity.

We love having a jar of pickled red onions on hand to add to salads and sandwiches. This can be a simple, quick pickle that you make by bringing a cup of vinegar, a couple of tablespoons of sugar, and a tablespoon of salt to a boil until everything is dissolved. Then pour it over sliced or diced red onions and refrigerate.

In early summer, we may be able to buy what are called spring or summer onions from our local farmers. These have larger bulbs than scallions. They are the same ones the farmer will harvest and dry later in the season.

Other Alliums

Most plants selected to grow scallions never form bulbs. Scallions are perhaps our favorite allium. We always have these on hand, but have a split opinion on the best part of this vegetable.

Ed likes the white bulb and will happily chomp up any pieces that Penny decided not to use in a dish. Penny loves the green section and will sprinkle them on many of the plates coming out of our kitchen. She’ll put more of the white on Ed’s plate and lots of the green on hers.

Shallots and garlic are among the first additions to many a pan on our stove. We also use finely minced shallots and crushed garlic as the start of most vinaigrettes. We’ll add the acid to these early in the salad making process. A few minutes of marinating seems to gentle and round out the flavor. Leeks are essential additions to our stock pots and are wonderful as one of the vegetables at the bottom of a roasting pan that will hold up and flavor a chicken, beef, or pork roast.

Nutrition

Who knew alliums were so good for you? Perhaps anyone who lived through the Great Depression and still enjoys the occasional raw onion sandwich that was part of their diet in those days.

"Strong-tasting onions are the ones that prevent blood clotting, lower the heart rate, benefit the stomach, and provide us with a long list of vitamins (including B, C, and E), minerals (phosphorus, potassium, sodium, sulfur, and even traces of copper), and disease-fighting quercetin in amounts that far exceed those found in other extremely good-for-you vegetables. And the really good news is that the benefits remain even after the onions have been cooked, although it appears that they may be more effective when eaten raw."

Sunday, August 12, 2018

Blossoms from Linden trees are drifting down and blanketing walkways and grassy areas where we walk our dogs.

If you look closely, you may see bees and other stinging critters buzzing among the blooms.

When you see a tree in bloom, dropping blossoms along your path, be sure to check for possible dangers to those precious paws.

When the three of us are out walking, one of us walks ahead of our dog Poppy to gently scatter the insects. This avoids having her step on and anger one of the busy pollen gatherers. Since she's a small dog, if she's walking with just one of us, we carry her through the blossoms.

Wednesday, August 01, 2018

In this year of favorite wines and friendship, we will be toasting with a bottle of Nino Franco Faìve Brut Rosé. A wine has to have special meaning for us to take it with us to Provincetown. This year a bottle joined us there in spring and another will join us with friends to toast August.

We must explained the name of this lovely Rosé. "Faìve, from the Venetian dialect, are the small gilded red tongues of flame and sparks rising towards the sky from a great fire, lightly and freely carried by the wind." Sylvia Franco told us the pronunciation is Fie-EE-vay!

Our stash of Faìve was hiding in plain sight on the top of a bookcase. We've been rationing this harder-to-find wine. But the time has come to enjoy this special bottle and share the experience with friends. Then we'll go hunting for a new supply!

Here is what Nino Franco says about this special Rosé from their collection:

"Variety and Grapes: 80% Merlot 20% Cabernet Franc.

Vinification Technique: Short skin and must contact at a low temperature to obtain the right colour. The first fermentation in steel tanks and the second one in “cuve close”.

Type: Rosé Brut.

Colour: Rose petal -like pink.

Flavour: Perfume of small red fruits. Mineral and floral notes.

Taste: In the mouth, pleasurably fresh. Dry with soft tannins and persistent bubbles.

While we are enjoying this old friend from our wine rack, we hope you'll pull a bottle you have been saving and join our sparkling resolution as we toast the new month of August 2018. Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

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